Category: My Health

I will admit that I haven’t gone completely wheat free since my last post on the subject. Sunday, while out with my son, we went to Burger King and I had a Chicken sandwich, which came on a bun…and this morning I had a half of a bottom piece of a bagel. I’m still down about 2 lbs from a week ago, so for the most part, I’m doing well. I just have to try to make the best choices I can when choosing to eat out.

As far as everything else, I’m doing alright. I still haven’t began my running program yet, but I’ve been doing some research here and there. Next week is vacation (actually it’s probably more like basement project week), so I’ll probably begin my running program after that week.

The sunburn is gone now at this point, but the spot where the blister is at is pretty dry, so I’ve got to moisturize that. I hope y’all are doing great. I wish you a safe July.

It’s been quite a hectic week around the household. We’re still in our wheat-less world, and I really haven’t noticed any significant difference to this point, outside of the fact that I’ve lost around 4 lbs in the last week (down to about 236), but I’m not sure how much of that is attributed to actually being wheat-free…but I’l take it. Our lunches have consisted of the Cheesy Sausage Quiche and the Cauliflower Pizza Bites. While the Pizza Bites were okay, as far as I was concerned, my wife did not seem to be too hot on it. However, the Cheesy Sausage Quiche was significantly better…I used Apple Chicken Sausage with it, and it was pretty darn tasty. Next on the palate will probably be the Tuna Melt Stuffed Tomatoes. I didn’t follow any of these recipes to a tee, necessarily, but I did substitute them where I could to make them dairy free as well as gluten free.

Turning to the sunburn front, it was a pretty bad one. I had a huge blister on my right knee. It was just about one of the ugliest things I’ve ever seen. It blew up like a balloon. It’s gone away now, but I’m leaving my DNA everywhere I go, because I’m peeling so bad. I need to remind myself to never do this again. Although it has diverted attention away from my left foot, which seems to be doing great now. I anticipate starting to walk/run again here in a few weeks. Once that starts, I’ll be rolling! Urrr, I guess I’ll be running, not rolling. LOL!

I hope you all take care of yourself riding this heat wave (it’s supposed to be 95 today here) and stay cool!

As tomorrow is the 4th of July, I will not be able to post anything then, so I’m getting this out today.

We’ve began our wheat-free experience, and thus far, it’s been okay. It’s still early in the process, so there’s not a lot to report as far as if it’s changed anything. I’m hoping for it to be a good experience.

My first real new type of wheat-free recipe was a chicken-avocado lettuce wrap sandwich on Saturday. It was surprisingly pretty filling. So much so, that even though we didn’t eat for about 8 hours after that, I wasn’t starving then.

I took my son to the Twins game vs. the Royals at Kaufmann Stadium yesterday, and I got burnt pretty well on my neck, arms and knees, so that’s probably not a good thing health-wise. 🙂 I’ll likely be okay though, but will keep an eye on it.

Another week has gone by, and I’m getting my mind right on preparing for the new wheat-free era which begins this weekend. The hardest part, I believe, is getting mentally prepared to say no to bread. The anticipation of it is kind of hard, but I think I’ll be ready. I certainly hope that it will cause a big change. While it may not be dramatic as far as weight loss (although I’d certainly like to see that too), the switch over to eating more fruits & vegetables may cause digestive changes, which could be a shock to the system. We’ll have to see what happens…it’s exciting, yet scary all at the same time.

I felt a very minor twinge in the bottom of my foot this morning, so I know I’m not completely ready yet to begin any type of running program, but I’m hoping that it will subside by the middle of next month, so I can get going. I’m itching to begin it, because I think that, of anything, will help me feel better, because right now, I find my energy to be lacking. I know Krista says she feels better, because she’s been walking more, but that doesn’t seem to be enough for me. I feel okay, but I don’t want to just feel okay. I want to feel great. I think running may be able to do that for me.

Next week’s post will be after the start of the wheat-free period, I’ll let you how it’s going. I know there probably won’t be any significant results to that point, but I think it’s important to get out my thoughts on it to reinforce it. Here’s to having a great week!

Well, the struggle has continued. Ever since last week, I have been unable to get up at 5:30 again, and the power going out in the house last weekend (and lasting until Monday afternoon) put quite a drag on the plan. I am going to mention it to Krista again to see if she wants to restart the plan to get up at 5:30, so we can get a move onto better health.

As far as the discussion on what to begin eating in the post-wheat era, I have begun some research into some lunches that I can eat that don’t contain wheat. The most promising ones generally involve mini-quiches or possibly lettuce wraps. I’m not a huge fan of soup, although that is certainly an option I can do on occasion. One such possibility is the Cauliflower Pizza Bites. While I’m not big on cauliflower, I think I’m going to give it a shot.

On other health-related fronts, my foot is beginning to feel much better, and I’m not waking up with as much soreness on the bottom of my foot. But, my back has been rather sore, mainly from having to lift the garage door to get the cars out when the power was out. It was awfully rough on the lower body, and I’ve paid the price. But, hopefully I should be well enough when I compete in the Corporate Challenge swim meet in a couple of days. As far as running, my goal is to probably begin running again in mid to late July. That’s my early goal, because I want to be able to complete the full 5K next year in the Corporate Challenge.

It’s been awhile since I last posted a blog here, but as always, I would like to continue, as doing so can help me get my thoughts out and maybe help me pursue my plans. Since my last post, my wife and I have bought a house and now have a dog…a dog named Ted (named after the Kennedy, as his official name is Edward Isaacs). He’s a schnoodle and as I write, is now just over 4 months old.

I’m writing today as I’m struggling. I’m struggling to plan and follow through on the plans that I have. I participated in the Corporate Challenge 5K just over a month ago, but while doing so, I injured my foot (I actually think I suffered a small fracture, but don’t tell Krista that…she’d call me out for never going to see the doctor). It’s still a little sore on some days, but think I’ll be ready to get back to running soon. It also doesn’t help that last Friday, for whatever reason, my hip seemed to have hit a nerve, so I was unable to move a lot on Saturday and was still pretty uncomfortable on Sunday, when the kids and I went walking at Shawnee Mission Park.

As you can see, I’m still struggling…struggling to stay focused. 🙂 There are 2 big things in my life that I want to focus on…my health and my home. Therefore, I’d like to write to help keep myself on task. With each post I make, I’m going to discuss one of these 2 main areas of my life with what I’ve done, what I’m doing, and where I’m going.

First off is my health and what I’ve done. I’m clearly at a rough spot right now. My hip is kind of off-kilter, I weight somewhere in the 240s, which isn’t morbidly obese, but it’s still about 45-50 lbs more than what I’d eventually like to weigh. I was at about 225 a year ago, but then hit some rough patches starting just before Thanksgiving with the flu, and then lasted all the way past New Year’s with hemorrhoids (which I never had and didn’t even know what they truly were until suffering from them). It’s probably the worst stretch of illness that I’ve ever had.

Next, my health and what I’m doing. I’ve just started walking a little again, especially with Ted. I just started this morning getting up a little earlier…at 5:30 AM…and it did allow me to get ready a lot sooner. Krista and I are planning to do that every morning (she couldn’t quite do it as she didn’t sleep well) and take Ted for a walk.

Finally, my health and where I’m going. Krista and I discussed on what we can do to lose weight and get in better health. One of the things we’ve come up with is quit eating wheat. We do eat a lot of bread items, especially at breakfast and lunch and that adds up the calories. So, we’re quitting bread on July 1, and replacing it with more fruits and vegetables. With her sandwich that she eats every lunch, it’s pretty easy, as I can just put her tuna or chicken salad in a bowl (or even a lettuce leaf if she ends up wanting to do that). However, mine is a little more difficult, as it’s often been a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I need to find an alternative lunch meal. Therefore, in between this blog post and the one I post next Tuesday, I’m going to think about what kind of lunch I will be eating as a replacement. As far as exercise, my plan is eventually to begin running again, but as I’m still somewhat hobbled, that’s going to have to wait. For right now then, I’m going to concentrate on eating right and then the exercise plan will be next on the “plate.”